Out of time
by HogwartsScribbler
Summary: Follows a SHIELD agent as she tries to help Captain America adjust to the modern world during the Avengers timeline. Steve Rogers X OC
1. Chapter 1

Alexis King walked down the silent hallway of the Helicarrier, introducing the sound of her clicking steel heels. The threat of Loki had been announced and all agents had been assembled to do their part. Alexis read over her file one last time and sighed. She was assigned to Captain Steve Rogers. The man completely stuck out of time. At the time Alexis would have choosen Bruce Banner, even if it meant the risk of the Hulk. Alexis and Steve were not at all similar. She walked into the control room and saw Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner being briefed.

"Agent King, about time you arrived." Director Fury said, causing the small group to look over to her.

"Fashionably late as always, sir." Alexis replied with a smile, nodding over to Natasha Romanoff in greeting. The two agents shared similar backgrounds and understood one another well.

"Naturally. I hope you learn as much as you teach with Captain Rogers. It wouldn't hurt for you to learn to follow routine and arrive on time." Fury said, used to Alexis' casual nature.

"We'll see." She replied and moved over. Steve's eyes flicked over her as she approached. Natasha was still in her regular clothing while Alexis was already in her catsuit, an outfit Steve was not accustomed to.

"Captain, I'm assigned to assist you with anything you happen to need. Most likely helping you readjust to the modern world." Alexis said, offering her hand. Steve stood and shook her hand firmly.

"Nice to meet you ma'am." Steve said with a polite smile. He was still not completely at ease being a part of SHIELD. Alexis released his hand and took a seat beside him to listen in on the rest of the briefing. Soon Natasha took Bruce Banner off to his lab and Alexis was left with Steve.

"I'll show you to your room." Alexis said, picking up Steve's duffle bag.

"I'll carry that." Steve said, reaching for the bag.

"No need. I'm here to help, I can start by carrying your bag. Or are you bothered by it because I'm a woman?" Alexis asked as she threw the bag over her shoulder and started walking. Steve stared for a moment but quickly caught up.

"Is there something wrong with that? I didn't think having gentleman values were frowned upon these days." Steve said, eyeing the bag.

"Gentlemen are scarce these days. It's not a problem, I just have to make one thing clear; I can handle myself." Alexis said seriously, not wanting a man to ever treat her as frail, delicate or incapable. Steve smiled, Alexis had the same independent attitude that Peggy had. For a moment, he thought of Peggy and missed her.

"Right through here." Alexis said, scanning her thumb as the door infront of her shot open. She stood aside and indicated for Steve to go in first. Steve once again disagreed but went along and stepped inside. It was a small living room, modern but simple.

"This is my room?" Steve asked, confused.

"No, this is our room. Your bedroom is the door to the left, mine is the door to the right. This is our shared living area. There's a bathroom down the end of the hall that's to be shared by all agents on this level. Watch out for Phil." Alexis said with a smirk.

"Oh, Agent Coulson right?" Steve asked, going over to look into his room. The bedrooms were more basic, a bed and set of drawers.

"That's right. Phil's a big fan. He'll likely try to catch a glimpse, if you know what I mean." Alexis replied. Steve looked confused.

"He already saw me on the jet." Steve said plainly. Alexis laughed.

"Wow. I mean he might be tempted to catch a glimpse of you in the shower." She explained, this stunned Steve for a moment.

"He's into the fellas?" Steve asked curiously, used to a more tame time when men were not so forward.

"I doubt it, but you're his hero. Curiousity gets the better of all of us sometimes." Alexis said, going over to the mini bar and grabbing out a water.

"Thanks for the heads up. Now I've got to ask, did they assign you to me to be my babysitter? Last time I checked, I was also capable of looking after myself." Steve said, sitting his bag inside his room.

"Babysitter? No. The fact of the matter is, you'd be capable of looking after yourself in your time not this time. I don't want to offend you but the simple truth is; time has changed a lot of things that you don't know about. It's my job to help you readjust. You need to know about something, you come to me." Alexis explained, drinking her water casually.

"I couldn't figure things out by myself or just ask someone around?" Steve asked.

"Figuring things out yourself might take time and we don't have time. You also don't know whether the person you ask for help is being honest with you. I'm sure it was similar in the army, people mess with the new guy. You happen to be famous and new, you'd be a walking target for a lot of people." Alexis said with a smile.

"You really think they'd mess with me?" Steve asked, coming over.

"Of course. We're in a stressful time and confusing you would relieve that stress. I'm above the childish behaviour but there are a lot of people who aren't. I'm basically the watch dog who makes sure they don't touch you." She replied.

"I see, well I appreciate it Agent King." Steve said politely with a smile.

"Call me Alexis."

**Author's note: Yes, I'm back after only a few days break. Now I'm not super confident in writing Steve Rogers yet so please stay with me as I get into a comfort zone with him. I hope you all enjoyed it and please review! P.s. I am also bringing out the sequel to Astrid!**


	2. Chapter 2

Alexis stood with a smirk on her face as she watched Steve Rogers sit and watched children's cartoons. It was one of the easiest ways to teach Steve. Children these days grew up with technology and modern ideas and Steve knew nothing of it, so it was best to start him out early. He was fascinated but embarassed, grown men shouldn't be watching children's shows.

"You promise you're not going to tell the other agents about this?" Steve asked while keeping his eyes on the screen.

"Of course. I don't think Nick would be too happy if he found out this is how I was teaching you. Once you get the basics on the tech side of things, I'll introduce you to all the classic movies of our time. A lot of people grew up infront of their televisions and so movies shaped a lot of people's lives." Alexis explained.

"I can't imagine growing up infront of one of these boxes." Steve commented.

"You should have had them out back in your time though, not like this obviously." Alexis replied.

"They were out, yeah. I preferred picture theatres, my mother used to take me back before she died..." Steve said, looking away for a moment.

"Sorry. I suppose the theatres had more value to you. But these days it's far less expensive to watch tv and it's convenient." Alexis said, trying to avoid what was likely a sensitive subject. She was not the type to get too close to others. She had worked hard to build shields up over the years, it was second nature to her now.

"Still, I don't think I like the idea of kids sitting infront of one of these all day instead of being outside." Steve replied, looking back over.

"It's true, it's not really healthy but all things in moderation. Besides, a lot of kids grew up watching the old Captain America cartoon. I'll try to find it for you. Phil likely has a dvd set of it..." Alexis said with a smile.

"They made a cartoon about me?" Steve asked in surprise.

"Of course. They had the comic books out during your time, after that they brought out the cartoon. There's a lot of kids who grew up watching you, you were a hero for more than just what you did. You're a symbol. Kids grew up identifying with the scrawny guy with good morals who turns out to be Captain America. Kids who were like you, looked up to you and believed that one day they could make a difference too." Alexis said, sitting down on the arm of the couch.

"And did you grow up watching me?" Steve asked curiously. Alexis smirked.

"A little, I liked Captain Planet better." Alexis said with a smile.

"Whos' Captain Planet? Are there more men like me?" Steve asked, interested. Alexis laughed.

"I doubt there could be anyone like you. No, Captain Planet was a fictional character that used his powers to protect the Earth." Alexis explained.

"So why did you like him better if he wasn't real?" Steve asked.

"He could fly. Plus he was an international hero. You're very American and I never really liked Americans much." Alexis said casually.

"You're not American? You don't have an accent." Steve said.

"I'm Australian and I lost my accent a long time ago." Alexis said vaguely, not wanting to go into detail.

"You know, this whole arrangement isn't very fair. You know everything about me from my file and I know nothing about you." Steve said, turning off the tv and looking to her.

"It's my job to know everything about you so I'm able to help you. You knowing me is irrelevant, all you need to know is that I'm going to get you up to speed as soon as I can." Alexis explained.

"You'll open up eventually." Steve replied with a smile.

"Oh? What makes you think that?" Alexis asked with a raised brow.

"Everyone needs a friend to confide in." Steve said simply.

"Not me." Alexis stated, holding her ear as she got a message.

"What is it?" Steve asked curiously.

"Loki's made an appearance, time to suit up." Alexis said. Soon she was leading him down the corridors to the vault room that held his new suit. She opend the large door slowly and walked into the room with him. His new Captain America suit was hanging in a glass case, his old shield with it.

"Ready?" She asked opening the case. Steve looked it over and thought back to his days in the war.

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

"Don't call me ma'am. You've got five minutes." She said, walking out of the room to let him change. As expected from an army man, he was ready in four minutes. The two ran out to the flight deck where Black Widow was waiting to brief them as they loaded onto the jet.

"Were any of the others spotted Nat?" Alexis asked as she said in the co-pilot seat, Steve waited in the back as he prepped himself. He had been out of the world for so long, this fight would test him.

"Not yet, Alex. We can only hope..." Natasha replied and shared a glance with Alexis.

"We'll find him and bring him home. Even if we have to drag his zompie-fied ass back to base." Alexis said with a smile, knowing Natasha was worried. She smiled over.

"Yeah..." Natasha replied, in a distant mindset. While the couple had not admitted to anything, it was widely known that Natasha and Clint were fond of one another. Some speculated that they were lovers, Alexis never asked out of respect. But she did know that whatever was happening between the two, Natasha would always hold Clint in her heart. Clint had saved Natasha and that meant a strong bond. Alexis was saved in a similar way, she owed her debt to Nick Fury himself.

"We're here, ready Cap'?" Alexis asked as she got out of her seat.

"Ready as I'll ever be."


	3. Chapter 3

Alexis smiled over to Steve as he and Tony Stark brought Loki into the jet and sat him down on one of the seats.

"Good job Cap'." Alexis said with a smile.

"Tony, you were not supposed to interfere." Natasha warned Tony as he removed his mask.

"You're welcome." He said with a smirk.

"He's not talking." Steve said as he made his way over to Alexis and removed his hooded mask.

"And who's this lovely agent? I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you." Tony said as he made his way over.

"I'm Alexis King and you're Tony Stark. Now that introductions are made, get us back to the carrier Nat." Alexis said firmly, sitting down a few seats away from Loki. Steve kept his eye on Alexis, not liking Loki so close.

"Most women are more welcoming, I am Iron Man you know." Tony said.

"I'm well aware. But Iron Man does not impress me." Alexis replied.

"We'll see kitten." Tony replied with a smile, liking a challenge. While he was committed to Pepper, he still enjoyed women fawning over him and having someone reject him so easily wounded his ego.

"Leave the girl alone, she doesn't need you hitting on her." Steve said quickly. Alexis was about to scold him after she had made it clear she takes care of herself when thunder and lightning hit. Loki moved for the first time.

"What's the matter, scared of a little lightning?" Steve asked as the others looked.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows..." Loki replied looking around.

"I'll check it out." Tony said, fitting his mask back on and opening the back hatch. Before he could act, Thor flew in.

"You're coming with me!" He shouted at Loki as he tore him from the restraints and flew off with him.

"Another Asgardian?" Alexis asked, looking around. Tony flew out after him before anyone could give an order.

"Right then." Steve said, grabbing a parachute.

"I think you better sit this one out Captain." Natasha said as she kept contact with SHIELD.

"No can do, ma'am." Steve replied, Alexis rolled her eyes but helped him get the pack on.

"Don't get yourself killed, I'll be filling in paperwork for weeks if you do." She said and gave Steve a smile before he took off. She closed the hatch and went over to the co-pilot seat.

"I'll find a place to land." Natasha said, looking over to Alexis.

"What is it with men? They're always throwing themselves into a situation head first without stopping to think." Alexis said, checking the controls.

"If they didn't, we'd be out of the job." Nat replied with a smirk as they took the jet down. They sat the fight out but kept an eye out. The boys had settled their fight soon and reloaded Loki onto the jet as they headed back to the Helicarrier, this time joined by Thor. Once back on board, with Loki safely locked away, the group watched as Nick talked to Loki. They discussed Loki once Nick had left the cell room, soon Tony joined them after having his suit removed. Tension was high as soon as he entered, gathering all the attention with his wise cracks.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked, trying to gather information.

"He'd got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Bruce said as he paced.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnelling effect." Tony pointed out as he walked over.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet." Bruce replied.

"Finally, someone who speaks English." Tony replied as he shook Bruce's hand.

"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked as Alexis smiled. Steve looked like a lost puppy among all the science talk.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster. " Tony said with a smile.

"Thanks" Bruce said softly.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him." Fury announced as he walked up to the table.

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Steve said, hoping he was adding to the conversation. He felt left out as the others talked about things beyong his understanding.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Nick replied.

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor finally said.

"I do! I understoond that reference." Steve said proudly as Tony rolled his eyes.

"Let's play, shall we doctor?" Tony said, heading to the labs with Bruce.

"Let's go get you something to eat." Alexis said to Steve, guessing he could use a meal to relax. Steve nodded his head and followed her off to the kitchens.

"You don't like Mr Stark do you?" Steve asked as he walked beside Alexis.

"No, I do not." Alexis replied simply. Steve sighed.

"You always do that. Don't you ever just give an honest, full answer?" Steve asked, he wanted to get to know the agent he was working with but she was very closed off and it was frustrating. Alexis looked over and could see Steve was only trying to make conversation, she knew he must be feeling very alone and out of place.

"I don't like him simply because I don't. He has never done anything to me personally. You see him on the news all the time, he's very full of himself and somehow people still love him despite that. I just think there are better people out there for the world to love. The single mothers doing their best to raise their kids, the doctors and nurses who work around the clock, teachers who go the extra mile to help their students. The people who do great things, the people who give so much of themselves and yet receive nothing for it." Alexis rambled out and sighed.

"The little guys..." Steve summed up, thinking of his own values.

"Sorry, that's why I prefer short answers. I get carried away and say too much." She said, side glancing over at Steve. He smiled.

"I like that better than the short answers." He said.

"You would." Alexis replied and opened the kitchen door for him. They would eat and feel much better about the current problems they were facing.


	4. Chapter 4

Alexis leant against a counter as she watched Steve shovel down a large meal. She was aware his metabolism was much faster than others, which meant he would likely be very hungry after a long day.

"Were you too polite to ask for food?" Alexis asked in wonder as she served up another helping.

"We missed dinner to pick up Loki, it couldn't be helped." Steve replied, looking grateful for more food.

"I'll let the kitchen crew know to make extra servings for you then." Alexis said, finishing her drink.

"You barely ate, are you on a diet?" Steve asked curiously.

"I don't like large meals. I grew up on old fashioned cooking, large serves of meat and veg." Alexis answered.

"Sounds nice. I didn't think people still cooked like that." Steve replied.

"They do. It's just that right now we have two extremes that are popular, the super health conscious and the people who live off take away." Alexis explained.

"I see, your parents didn't follow the trends?" Steve asked, wanting to know Alexis better.

"No, my parents were old fashioned. Dad worked all day, mum raised the kids, cooked and cleaned." Alexis replied, looking to the side.

"Sounds nice." Steve said with a smile before finishing off his meal.

"Maybe to a man." Alexis commented before walking back to their room.

"I didn't mean to imply anything." Steve tried to explain as he caught up.

"I know. I just don't like talking about my childhood." She replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Before we turn in for the night, mind if we check on the scientists? I want to get a check on what they're doing. I didn't really follow most of it..." Steve said.

"It was all a bit much for me too. But sure." Alexis said, happy to have a different subject come up as she lead Steve to the lab. As they walked through the doors, Tony jabbed Bruce in the side with one of his tools.

"Hey!" Steve called out.

"Nothing?" Tony asked as Bruce rubbed his side.

"Are you nuts?" Steve asked, knowing what would happen if Bruce was set off.

"Jury's out." Tony replied, looking to Bruce.

"You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" Tony asked as Bruce chuckled.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked, quickly seeing what kind of man Tony was.

"Funny things are, hello beautiful." Tony replied as he brushed off Steve and winked as Alexis, she rolled her eyes.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offence doc." Steve said seriously before looking over to Bruce.

"It's alright, I wouldn't have come onboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Brucee said, returning to his work.

"You're tiptoeing big man, you need to strut." Tony said as he walked over to grab a snack.

"And you need to focus on the problem Mr Stark." Steve pointed out, easily on edge with Tony's laid back attitude.

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in, why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." Tony asked, looking over to Steve.

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve asked, glancing over to Alexis.

"He's a spy Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?" Tony asked, shoving some dehydrated blueberries into his mouth before looking over to Bruce.

"Uhh... I just want to finish my work here..." Bruce evaded, not wanting to cause trouble.

"Doctor?" Steve asked, looking for answers.

"A warm light for all mankind... Loki's jab at Fury about the cube." Bruce said, taking off his glasses.

"I heard it." Steve said, confused as to what Bruce was leading to.

"Well I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news." Bruce said, pointing at Tony.

"The Stark tower? That big ugly... building in New York." Steve said, avoiding eye contact with Tony for his comment.

"It's powered by an arc reactor. That building will run itself for what, A year?" Bruce asked, looking to Tony.

"It's just a prototype, I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now, is what he's getting at." Tony explained to Steve.

"So why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Bruce asked, looking over to Alexis is.

"Don't bother asking me, I'm not involved in the science department. You can never tell what they're up to." Alexis said, finding the situation just as suspicious as the others.

"I should probably look into it once my program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files." Tony said as he walked around the desk with his phone.

"I'm sorry, did you say..." Steve asked but was cut off.

"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge, in a few hours I'll know every little secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?" Tony asked, offering Steve and Alexis the bag of blueberries.

"Yet you're confused as to why they didn't want you around?" Steve asked.

"An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Tony replied.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them." Steve said, every bit a soldier.

"Following is not really my style." Tony said, taking another handful of berries.

"And you're all about style." Steve replied.

"Of the people in this room, which one is A; wearing a spangly outfit and B; not of use?" Tony replied, cutting Steve with his remark. There was a silent moment.

"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?" Bruce asked. Steve looked at them both.

"Just find the cube." He said quietly and walked out.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? I'm wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice." Tony said before going back to work. Alexis looked at him seriously before walking out to find Steve, she knew Tony's snide comments would have hurt him. Slowly, she was beginning to understand Steve a lot better. She felt for him, he was a man stuck out of time and dealing with men beyond him. Loki was stronger and had powers he could not compete with, Tony had knowledge and wit that could undo him. In the end, Steve was very much alone in this world and for once, Alexis wanted to change that.


	5. Chapter 5

Alexis walked down the many corridors until she found him. Steve sat against a wall in the deepest part of the Helicarrier. His arms on his knees and his head down. Alexis sighed and sat down beside him, he did not look up. She elbowed him in the side gently.

"I've walked all over this ship looking for you, and let me just say it is no picnic to do so in five inch heels." Alexis said, trying to lighten to mood.

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to cause you any worry." Steve said, looking up from his knees.

"It comes with the job. You know, those things Stark said, they weren't true. The man says things like that defensively because you're a threat to him." Alexis said quietly.

"How could I be a threat to him?" Steve asked in disbelief.

"He grew up listening to his dad, the man he idolised and obviously has issues with, talk about you. You were the first real super hero and that was something you did not ask to become, you just did the right thing and people saw you as one. Stark had to build a suit to fight and tried to force the world to believe he is a super hero. You're essentially all the things he wants to be, whether he wants to admit to it or not." Alexis said softly.

"You really believe that? I'm nothing special, never was. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn who used to get beat up a lot. Then they suped me up and I was able to do my part for my country. Now I'm just the little guy again, I don't know anything, I don't have a place in this time." Steve said. Alexis rubbed his back gently.

"Don't talk nonsense. You're still as big as ever and you've got a place, right by me. Ok?" Alexis asked, making Steve laugh.

"When we first met you acted like you'd rather throw yourself off the Helicarrier than to be assigned to my case." Steve replied with a smile.

"Well, at the time I would have." Alexis replied, laughing with Steve.

"So what changed?" He asked seriously after a moment.

"I got to know you. Got to see that you're more than a 1940 stereotype... I was expecting some macho man who thought women weren't capable of anything other than childbirth and cooking." Alexis said with a smile.

"No ma'am. I was raised by my mother. My father was an alcoholic, he died when I was a kid. My mother worked hard to raise me alone, she died after I finished high school... I was pretty scrawny too, never did fit in with regular "macho" men." Steve said, looking down to Alexis.

"I saw your photo, you were small. Didn't know the part about your mother though, I'm sorry." Alexis said seriously.

"Thanks. I know just how amazing women are, I know they're capable of anything, the good ones at least. My mother, Peggy, you." Steve replied with a smile.

"I'm not a good one, believe me." Alexis replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Why would you say that about yourself? You may be stubborn but you're still good." Steve replied.

"I may be doing good now, but I started out wrong." Alexis said.

"You can't leave it at that. I told you about me, you tell me about you." Steve said. She sighed but gave in.

"Alright. Like you, my father was also an alcoholic. He'd work, go drinking, come home and drink some more. That's all I remember of him really, he was either not there or drunk. Mum struggled. She had to look after me, my brothers and sisters, had to constantly pick my dad up off the floor. I could handle that, but with my dad, beer was the priority. As long as he had money for more he was fine, he never thought about how the bills would get paid or how there would be food on the table. It wore mum down and I knew it, so as soon as I was old enough I got into crime. I was a thief and a good one, it's my gift. I can get into anywhere, steal anything and take down anyone that gets in my way. But it didn't take long for my crimes to catch up with me, I stole from the wrong people. It was Nick Fury who got me out of trouble, saw I had unconventional talents and decided to give me a chance. I've been with SHIELD ever since and I haven't looked back." Alexis said with a distant look on her face.

"With a father like that, it's no wonder you hate men." Steve said, taking it all in and understanding Alexis a little better.

"I never said I hate men." Alexis corrected.

"Oh no? Judged me before you knew me, stood up to Stark when he tried hitting on you." Steve replied.

"Doesn't mean I hate men, just usually." Alexis said with a smile.

"What type of men don't you hate?" Steve asked.

"The decent ones. Thing is, I'm not the type to attract decent men." Alexis replied, looking over to Steve.

"I'm sure you do." Steve replied with a smile.

"What about you? What was your Peggy like?" Alexis asked, trying to take the discussion away from her.

"Peggy wasn't really mine. We were going to go on our first date but I missed it... I still miss her though. It's complicated, it feels like only yesterday but in reality, it was decades." Steve said quietly.

"It must have been difficult." Alexis said, touching Steve's arm.

"I'll survive. I think you two would have gotten along really well though, both strong willed women. Peggy didn't need any man's help, but somehow she chose me. I still can't see why, when she could have had anyone." Steve said with a smile.

"I'm beginning to see why..." Alexis said and left the conversation at that as she got up and started heading back to their room. Steve watched her go for a moment before following.

**Author's note: Ok everyone, I know this is sudden but I will not be able to update for roughly 1-2 weeks. I am going into hospital tomorrow and will not be out for a week, I'm not sure how I will feel after that either. While I do not like leaving my stories, I'm sure you all understand that this is not something I can put off. So until next time, I hope you don't forget about the story and I hope you had fun reading. X**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: I'm back! Thanks everyone for the kind messages. I'm feeling ok, had some complications after my surgery which is why it took longer than usual to finally update. I went in thinking I would have far too much spare time and would be able to write a few chapters while I was there. I was very wrong. You don't really feel like doing much when you're out of your mind on pain killers and fighting off constant drowsiness. I haven't even looked at my stories until now and so it might be a little bit of an effort to get back into them. Anyway, please enjoy and review.**

Steve sat beside Alexis in the mess hall as they ate their breakfast. Following their conversation Alexis sat him down and forced him to watch more modern day tv series and he was tired from it. Steve stretched his arms out and yawns loudly, earning unwanted attention.

"What's the matter Cap, old age catching up with you?" Came the all too familiar voice of Tony Stark as he stopped infront of their table with a tray of food in his hands, Bruce stopped behind him and looked uncomfortable. Alexis imagined Bruce knew Steve had been upset the night before and didn't want to see it happen again but also enjoyed Tony's company and did not want to effect that in anyway. She smiled and decided to not like a repeat of last night happen.

"No, I kept Steve up really late last time and now he's pretty worn out. It was so worth it though, I've never had a job more satisfying... You know, most men wouldn't do what I asked him to do last night and I'm so grateful." Alexis said suggestively and placed a hand on Steve's thigh while giving him a smile. Steve sat up straighter and looked down to her with surprise.

"It's no problem, really. It was a lot of fun actually, though maybe next time you can be more conscious of the time, four hours was a bit much." Steve replied honestly, not understanding why Tony and Bruce looked so surprised. Was watching television for long periods of time an impressive skill?

"Four hours? I thought the guy was clueless in that area, he couldn't last four hours." Tony replied.

"Four hours is that difficult? I mean sure, I wasn't really used to it but Alexis has been very helpful." Steve replied, feeling proud of himself as he gave Alexis a smile. Alexis laughed at how innocent Steve was, he really had no clue what they were really talking about.

"Oh please, I didn't offer much help, you were great. And as a super soldier, I'm sure you will be able to do a lot more with some guidance." Alexis said, rubbing his arm.

"Sure, we can try again tonight. We could probably go longer if we started early." Steve replied, blissfully unaware.

"I'm looking forward to it." Alexis replied, purposely pressing herself against Steve to annoy Tony. Tony walked off, mumbling to Bruce about the possibilities of such things happening. Steve blushed and looked down to Alexis as she stayed close for only a moment before moving back to her spot and laughing. Within a few minutes he was caught up on what had actually happened.

"I feel so foolish." Steve said bitterly as he walked down the hallway with Alexis by his side, his face a dark shade of red.

"Don't. You got to show up Tony." Alexis replied, having thought they did a great job.

"I felt proud of myself for watching television. I thought he was surprised by that. Not... not.. that." Steve said, unable to bring himself to say it.

"Sex. It's just sex, and that is something Tony prides himself on. Him thinking you're great in bed is a win for you. It'll piss him off." Alexis replied, grabbing Steve's hand to make him stop and calm down.

"You made a fool out of me." Steve said, looking down to her seriously.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't want Tony talking you down again. He hit on me and I rejected him, so allowing him to think you've slept with me gives you an advantage over him." Alexis replied honestly, Steve sighed and bowed his head.

"And if others hear about it?" Steve questioned.

"Then let them think what they want. I don't mind." Alexis replied.

"And you're not worried that you'll get a reputation?" Steve questioned further.

"A reputation for using one of the most famous men alive for sex? No, I'm good with that." Alexis said with a smile. Steve looked down to her.

"Use? So our made up relationship doesn't involve dating?" Steve asked.

"I'm not the type of girl who dates. Remember, I hate most men?" Alexis said.

"If you only use men, Tony sounds like your type." Steve replied, feeling uneasy hearing about Alexis' relationship with men. He didn't know much about the modern world but the idea of using someone for such activities made him uncomfortable.

"Tony thinks he can get any woman he wants. I don't like men who use women, because it usually involves women getting lead on and let down." Alexis replied.

"So you just use unsuspecting men instead?" Steve asked, his stomach turning with the thought of her with other men.

"I never said I actually use men. Just that I don't date." Alexis replied, walking on. Steve stared after her for a moment, gaining some hope.

"So... you don't actually use men?" Steve asked as he followed.

"Well, I get my neighbour to do some odd jobs around the house. But besides that, no." Alexis answered, placing her hands behind her back. Steve smiled as he walked along, seeing he misjudged her and was thankful he was wrong. The morning went by slowly as the two sat and watched a movie together, after which Alexis left Steve on his own while she went to report for some other duties. Steve thought of all that had happened so far and soon found himself thinking of Stark and Banner's talk the night before. He did agree that something was not right with SHIELD. Before long curiousity got the better of Steve and he snuck out of his room to search for answers.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve looked over the crate filled with newly built guns of some kind. He felt his faith in SHIELD dwindling, he needed answers. Grabbing one of the weapons, Steve made his way to the labs, where he knew Tony was likely to be. He wondered how much Alexis knew of the weapons, or if she knew of them at all. SHIELD was good at keeping secrets, from others as well as their own.

Steve hoped that his faith in Alexis would not be damaged, he trusted her and believed she would have told him about the weapons if she knew. Steve thought of their talk earlier about using men and was reminded that she proved him wrong. He had doubted her but she was not what he had expected. Steve smiled to himself for a short moment, even if she knew about the weapons, he would not be able to hold it against her. He cared for her.

Alexis returned to her and Steve's room to find it empty. It was not long before she found herself searching the Helicarrier for Steve, she felt the need to look out for him and did not want him copping slack from people because he did not completely understand the time he was in. Alexis walked down the halls her and Steve had walked together, she checked where she had found him the night before to find nothing. Before she could think to check the labs, Alexis was thrown against the wall as the Helicarrier jerked roughly, it had been hit. Alexis' first thoughts turned to Steve but she knew he could handle himself in this sort of situation, he second thoughts were of Loki. His entire capture had seemed too easy and he had remained in his cell without any resistance. While Alexis doubted her ability to stop Loki, it was her duty to try.

Steve helped Tony get to his suit to change, only moments before the two men were at each other's throats and had prepared to fight. SHIELD had not told them about the weapons they were building from the Tesseract and it had started an outburst. He and Tony had clashed from their first moments together and it had built to breaking point. Now they were both needed as the carrier was under attack, Steve and Tony would have to work together. Steve thought of Alexis, he was not sure where she was or if she was ok but knew she was an agent and as an agent she would be doing her own part in all this. Together, he and Tony went to repair the damaged Helicarrier.

Alexis ran through the hallways and stopped in time to quietly enter the room that held Loki's cell. The guards laid dead on the ground as Loki stood by the control pannel to the cell but did not look up. Alexis believed she could catch him off guard but was unaware of Loki's skills in deception. As she moved closer and readied her gun, a second Loki appeared from no where, touching his sceptor to her chest. Suddenly her mind went numb and her body no longer felt like her own. Her usually dark eyes took on the milky blue colour of all those under Loki's control. Alexis tried to fight mentally but there was nothing she could do. In that moment she was Loki's and would obey him without question, without a second thought. She was a member of Loki's army; she would serve him, worship him, die for him.

"My dear girl, while I would love to take the time to enjoy you fully, I have a schedule to keep." Loki said in a dark voice. Alexis looked to Loki and smiled. It was a hollow smile, one she reserved to show polite respect to superiors.

"What are your orders, sir?" She said as if she were talking to Director Fury. Loki was now the only person she would obey. Loki moved in close and whispered in a hushed tone.

"Go to that American soldier of yours, lure him in and when the time is right, kill him." The words were like poison in her ears but she gave Loki a smile and bowed her head.

"I shall go to him at once." Alexis said, everything inside her screamed to stop but her body would not listen as she turned and made her way to Steve. She worked with all the stealth that was expected from a thief, she aided other agents along her way to not draw attention and even feigned injury to be left alone. The only thing Alexis did that was likely against Loki's wishes was to look each and every agent she crossed in the eyes. Deep down she prayed that they would see her eyes and try to stop her. Not one stopped to think that there was something amiss with the usually brown eyed agent. As Alexis searched for her target, an agent approached her and informed her to go to the control room. Loki had escaped, much to the current Alexis' pleasure and now Steve was looking for her. She had left her communicator in the bathroom that morning for her shower and had forgotten to place it back in her ear, a slip up that if avoided; could have saved her a lot of time. Alexis smiled to herself as she now knew the location of Steve and would soon be completing Loki's orders.

"Hold on Steve, I'm coming and soon that red, white and blue suit of yours will be featuring a lot more red."

**Author's note: Sorry for the delay, I'm currently afflicted with writer's block. I realised halfway through writing this that she never really needed to search for Steve as they all had communication devices on. So I slipped that little bit in about her forgetting hers after a shower. For my sake, believe that and if that isn't a good excuse than the answer is magic. She couldn't communicate with Steve because of magic. Magic is the answer to all! Ok, I need to sleep. Please review and hoped you liked it, next chapter will see a bit of action.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note: I had a review from a guest asking: "My dear girl, while I would love to take the time to enjoy you fully.." Does that mean what I think it means? - The answer is, it can mean whatever you want it to mean. It could mean Loki wants to enjoy her sexually, enjoy torturing/killing her or simply getting information from her. Anyway, please enjoy and review!**

Alexis walked into the observation room and took in her surroundings, Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark stood nearby as Director Fury paced infront of a large table. Alexis smiled as her eyes landed on Steve, he sat with his back to her; it would be an easy kill for her. Loki's control over her was powerful and cried out for her to kill Steve now while she had the chance.

"Nice to see you alive and well sweetheart." Tony said with a smile, catching Steve's attention. Everything happened in slow motion for Alexis, Steve turned and seemed to light up when he saw Alexis was safe. Alexis silently begged herself not to do what she was ordered to do. Steve stood and began to walk over to her with arms open as Alexis carefully drew the dagger from her back pouch and locked eyes with Steve, hoping he would see there was something wrong and stop her. Her focus was solely on her task as she approached Steve, gripping the dagger tightly behind her back.

Steve was so relieved seeing Alexis was well that the subtle change in her went unnoticed. After hearing the news that Phil Coulson had died, it hit Steve hard; especially Fury's line about him never signing Coulson's cards. Steve was just happy to have her back where he could make sure she was ok. The change in Alexis did catch the attention of both Tony and Natasha. Natasha had just recently returned from handling Clint Barton and knew exactly what to do.

"I was worried about you." Steve said quietly with a smile as he wrapped his arms around Alexis. She smiled up to him and played along despite her mind screaming out for him to stay away.

"You had no reason to worry about me." Alexis whispered, her words hollow and meaningless as she took hold of Steve's suit and pulled him close. A kiss would keep him from seeing it coming. Steve was without defence as her lips pressed to his; he did not understand it and it did not feel quite right but he cared for Alexis and for a moment worried he might have lost her so a kiss from her was welcome.

Natasha saw Alexis move the dagger from behind her back. She saw Alexis pull Steve in for a kiss, which was no doubt the plan she was using before striking. Natasha moved quickly and took hold of Alexis, threw her to the ground and in one swift movement hit the back of Alexis' skull to the hard ground. Steve looked bewildered as Tony restrained him.

"What are you doing?!" Steve shouted out, protective of Alexis. Natasha took the dagger from Alexis' unconscious hand and showed it to Steve.

"She was under Loki's control. Didn't you notice her eyes?" Natasha questioned. Steve looked down to Alexis and felt conflicted, he'd been so happy to see her that he overlooked such a fatal detail.

"Will she be ok?" Steve asked as he kneeled down to pick her up.

"We're still waiting on Clint to wake up, we'll see then." Natasha answered, leading Steve to one of the medical rooms for Alexis to be held.

Nearly an hour passed as Steve paced the halls outside the two holding rooms, Natasha sat with Clint and waited for him to wake. Steve felt more worried than ever, if Alexis was still under Loki's control and still wished to kill him, she would be lost to him forever. Steve had already experienced loss outside his control and Alexis had come along and helped him more than he had realised. Doing things as simple as watching a movie together helped him; small talks, deeper conversation and comfortable silences; all she did helped him heal and now he could potentially lose her. Steve walked over to the door to her room and hesitated before turning the door handle, he stepped inside to see her cuffed to the bed. It was eerie to see her restrained like this; to think that she could be an enemy, the chance that he might have to defend himself from her attacks. Steve moved closer to her, he removed his red gloves and carefully touched her cheek.

"Please don't do this to me. I really am lost in this world without you. Please Alexis, please..." Steve pleaded in a soft whisper, silently praying to god that she would hear his voice and fight for him.

"I'm sorry I didn't see it in time and that I wasn't there to protect you from him. I'll do better next time." Steve said quietly. Natasha leaned against the doorframe with two mugs of coffee in her hand.

"You can't blame yourself for this Steve. Loki is more than people like us can handle, just be glad that we've stopped her. If she is still controlled when she wakes up then we have her and will find a way to help her and Clint. It could have been so much worse than it is." Natasha said sympathetically.

"This is the worst case for me, I thought about her when we got hit but I left her to take care of herself. I know she's independent but I should have been there to protect her. I should have been with her-" Steve began but was cut off.

"Should have been there? And what if Loki got you first instead, huh? What if Loki made you kill her. You are both alive Steve, you can both recover from this. That is what matters. Dwelling on things we should have done is not the way to think in this line of work. We work with what we have and move on from the things we wished we had done." Natasha snapped, she had experienced many regrets from her life and did not want to see Steve follow a similar path of "what ifs". Steve sighed and sat down beside the bed.

"You're right, I'm sorry. We'll find a way to save them both. Has he woken yet?" Steve asked as he looked up to Natasha.

"Not yet, soon I think though. I just wanted to check on you first, make sure you're ok. I'm guessing there was more going on between you and her than I know though. I mean I did hear Tony talking about you apparently giving her hours of pleasure but that sounds more like Alexis trying to piss Tony off." Natasha said casually as she moved closer and handed Steve a cup of coffee. Steve's ears went a soft shade of red from the reminder.

"Thanks. And you're right, that was just Alexis messing with Steve. But there is something... at least for me. You know her well, right? Do you think she'd ever consider a man like me?" Steve asked as he looked down to his coffee.

"Well I don't know about her taste in men. Alexis was always pretty reserved, rejected more than a few date offers from other agents. But I'd say you might just be the kind of guy she needs." Natasha replied.

"You think so? I hope I'm enough..." Steve said with a soft yet hopeful smile. Natasha snickered.

"If a super soldier isn't enough for Alexis, what hope do other men stand?" Natasha asked, Steve smiled up to her.

"I don't think she's impressed with my strength." Steve said seriously.

"No, but she's probably impressed with your muscles, even if she won't admit it." Natasha replied.

"So what's the story with you and Barton? I have the feeling there's more to you two as well." Steve said, feeling slightly uncomfortable with talk of his body.

"It's complicated. Agents really shouldn't date but the two of us are kind of tied together. I won't say anymore." Natasha answered vaguely.

"Alright, I won't press the matter then." Steve answered, taking a small sip of his coffee.

"I'll go back to him now, come get me if you need me." Natasha said as she left the room, leaving Steve to his thoughts.

A second hour passed before Natasha returned to tell Steve the news of Clint's recovery. Steve was filled with hope for a moment until Natasha admitted she did not hit Alexis' head as hard as Clint's. Only time would tell if Alexis would return to her normal state.


	9. Chapter 9

The room was blurred and seemed to spin as Alexis opened her eyes, it took a moment for her to adjust to the light. The room had the bare minimal, she knew this room was a holding cell for the less dangerous criminals. Looking down to her arms, Alexis saw cuffs strapped to her wrists to restrain her. This was incase she was still under Loki's control. Everything came flooding back to her, she was about to strike when everything went black. The memories were there but felt as if they belonged to someone else. Finally, her eyes landed on Steve. He was bent over in the chair, his head in his hands as he waited. Alexis watched Steve for as long as she could, trying to figure out what to say to him, how she could explain the guilt she felt. It didn't take too long for her eyes to well up with tears.

"I'm sorry." Alexis whispered, it was all she could come up with in the time she had been awake. Steve immediately sat up and moved over Alexis. His hands grabbed hold of her face and forced her head up towards him, a look of relief spread over Steve as he saw the normal, big brown eyes of Alexis looking up to him.

"You're back." Steve said happily as he loosened his hold on her but kept his hands in place.

"I didn't want to hurt you... I couldn't stop myself. I had no control." Alexis tried to explain.

"It's ok, we know it was Loki's doing. I'm just glad you're back now." Steve tried to sooth.

"It was terrible. It was like watching a movie but having all the experiences of the main character. I couldn't control what was happening, all I could do was watch and wish it wasn't happening. I felt everything too, I remember distinct things; the clicking of my boots on the floor, the cool metal of the dagger, the feel of your lips..." Alexis looked away as she remembered the kiss.

"The kiss does confuse me, why do it if you were about to kill me?" Steve asked.

"Well, I think it was to distract you. But deep down, I think somewhere inside me knew it was a kiss goodbye." Alexis replied as she looked up to Steve seriously.

"That explained why it felt strainge. We weren't meant to say goodbye." Steve said with a small smile. Alexis smiled for a moment until a thought came to her mind.

"Steve, why did you kiss me back?" Alexis asked curiously. Steve looked to her for a moment.

"What?" He asked, playing dumb.

"You kissed me back, you could have pushed me away, but you didn't." Alexis said seriously, she was controlled when she kissed him but Steve had full control over himself. Steve rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, when a woman kisses a man... it's uh... not polite to shove her away..." Steve mumbled, he hadn't had much experience with women and was not used to explaining the reasons why.

"I'm serious Steve, I want to know." Alexis questioned, feeling a need to understand.

"Truthfully, for a brief moment I thought you may have been killed by Loki. When I saw you, I was so happy that I didn't think of any reasons why we shouldn't kiss, only reasons why we should. We're facing a war Alexis. War has a pretty good way of making a man see what's important to him. I messed up with Peggy, I hesitated in letting her know how I felt until the last minute and because of that I missed out on memories. I could have taken her dancing, it will always be something I regret. I don't want to make the same mistake with you, so you kissing me was not a bad thing." Steve explained as best he could before moving back from Alexis. Alexis was quiet for a moment and that made Steve anxious, while he had not admitted to anything as serious as love, he still put his feelings out there for Alexis and she had yet to react.

"Will you undo my restraints, please?" Alexis asked quietly. The simple line struck Steve hard, he had opened himself up and she could not even acknowledge his feelings. He felt burning in his chest as he struggled to keep emotions from showing.

"Oh, yeah." Steve replied in monotone as he unbuckled the straps holding Alexis down. Alexis sat up and rubbed her wrists gently.

"Thanks." She replied softly. Steve gave a nod and looked to the ground.

"I'll go tell the others you're ok." Steve said quickly and turned to leave, before he could reach the door he felt a small hand take his own.

"Stay." Alexis whispered. Steve looked back to her for a moment, feeling confused.

"You want me to stay?" He questioned, unsure what to think.

"Yeah... I'm not that great about being honest with my emotions. In my experience, it just ends up causing pain. But I'd like to be honest with you." Alexis replied, cautiously taking a step towards Steve.

"I won't push you into anything. I'm still pretty new to all this." Steve replied with a smile.

"I know, we'll just take things slow." Alexis replied before pushing herself up on her toes and placing a soft kiss on Steve's lips. Steve wrapped his arms around Alexis' waist, it was like kissing a different person entirely. The kiss felt caring and confident but there was something else to it, Steve could feel Alexis' vulnerability. She was opening herself up to him. Alexis stood back down and smiled up to Steve.

"That was not a kiss goodbye." Steve said with a smile.

"No, it was a kiss hello." Alexis replied.


	10. Chapter 10

Alexis looked at herself in the foggy bathroom mirror, she had just taken a long shower after being checked over by the medical team. While the others worked on trying to locate Loki, Alexis and Clint were to take things easy until they were needed. Having your freewill removed was a very difficult thing to go through and no one wanted the two agents breaking down before the battle that was coming very soon. Alexis pushed her damp hair back out of her face and pulled on her underwear and a baggy t-shirt. Steve was out working with the others and so Alexis could relax without worrying about what she wore. Stepping out into their shared living area, Alexis helped herself to a cold drink and sat down to watch tv. Alexis felt uncomfortable in her own skin, she had been used and it did not feel good. After a while of watching mind numbing cartoons, Alexis found herself finally relaxed as she was distracted from all other thoughts.

Steve walked into the shared room to check on Alexis, Tony was still continuing the search to find Loki as quickly as possible. Steve felt he could not assist Tony in the labs and only got in the genius' way. He saw the tv playing rather childish cartoons and wondered if Alexis was ok, he had been told that she might be feeling unsual after breaking from Loki's hold.

"Alexis, how are you feeling? Oh! I'm sorry." Steve said in a short breath as he moved around the other side of the couch to see Alexis without pants, he quickly turned around to give her some privacy.

"What are you doing, Steve?" Alexis asked as she saw Steve refusing to face her.

"I apologise, I should have knocked and given you the chance to finish dressing." Steve said, embarassed. Alexis smiled and pulled the throw from the back of the couch over her legs.

"You can look now, I'm decent. Well, decent enough." Alexis said with a smile. Steve looked down to see her legs covered and gave a nod.

"I'm sorry for intruding." Steve apologised again.

"Don't worry, I was just trying to get comfortable. it's no big deal." Alexis replied. Steve gave a nod and sat down beside her.

"You're watching cartoons?" Steve questioned carefully.

"Yeah, I used to watch this as a kid so it brings back memories of easier times." Alexis answered as she turned the tv off to focus on Steve.

"So you're not having any troubles?" Steve asked as he cautiously placed a hand over Alexis'. He was not experience with women and did not know how to act around Alexis. Alexis smiled and gently held his hand to show him that it was ok.

"I'm fine, it is a bit hard dealing with it all but it's nothing that will hold me back." Alexis said, enjoying the small signs of caring between them as Steve began to inspect Alexis' hand.

"You're strong, you'll get through it. But if you need to talk to anyone..." Steve said seriously as he traced his fingers over Alexis' palm.

"I know, but don't worry. We'll find Loki, we'll fight him and we'll win. Staying positive is important in situations like these." Alexis said calmly, she was determined not to let Loki do anymore harm to her than he already had.

"I don't think Tony is dealing too well with Phil's death. Seemed to have hit him hard. And without Bruce here, it doesn't look like he'll talk about it." Steve said, looking up to Alexis.

"Ask him about it. I know you two have had your problems but in times like these, we must all pull together." Alexis suggested. Steve smiled and let go of her hand.

"I'll go now then, let me know if you need anything." Steve said before leaning in closer, Alexis could tell what he was leaning for so gave him a quick kiss. Steve smiled before heading out. He did not know what the rules for dating a girl were in the current times and so he was grateful for Alexis being patient with him. He was not sure who to talk to about it all; Thor was from another world, Bruce was still missing, Tony was a self confessed playboy and Clint was dealing with his own problems. Phil would have been a good man to talk to, he was grounded and would have liked being the one Steve turned to for help. It made Steve smile as he took a moment to think of Phil. Steve stepped into the labs quietly and saw Tony checking one of the gadgets Steve had yet to learn about.

"Tony, I think we should talk about Phil." Steve said with purpose.

"He was an idiot." Tony said, keeping his back to Steve.

"He was doing his job." Steve defended.

"For taking Loki alone, he was out of his league." Tony replied as he moved on to another monitor.

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" Steve asked, seeing that Tony was becoming emotional.

"We are not soldiers! I am not marching to Fury's fife!" Tony snapped as he turned to face Steve and look him dead in the eye.

"Neither am I, Fury has as much blood on his hands as Loki. But we need to come together to get this done." Steve replied. Tony stopped for a moment to see reason.

"Alright." Tony said as he put his mind to work, the scans were not giving the results they needed.

"We need to work out his next move, stop him before he can go through with it." Steve said.

"He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience." Tony thought aloud.

"Right, I caught his act at Stuttengard." Steve agreed.

"Yeah. That's just a preview, this will be opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered... Son of a bitch!" Tony shouted out as he started walking. Steve followed quickly.

"What is it?" Steve asked.

"He's going for Stark Tower. Get the others. I'll go ahead." Tony replied before going to retrieve his suit. Steve looked for a moment before running to gather the group.

**Author's note: Hey all. Some of the ending was quoted from the movie, some was changed a little. I don't know about you, but I always find it funny when Loki is labelled a full-tilt diva. I think of him in a shiny green gown and a large feather boa. I feel a bit unsure writing Steve in a relationship, as we never really see him get to date Peggy properly and so I do not know how he would react to most things. I think once the movie part of the story is over, I might continue this story for a few extra chapters to explore Steve adjusting to a reltionship and the modern world, thoughts? Anyway, I mentioned this in Astrid and the Avengers, but if anyone wants to follow my Tumblr, please let me know. Hope you enjoyed reading and please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

Alexis stood with Steve in the back of the jet as Natasha and Clint sat in the cockpit. Tony had gone ahead to Stark Tower to see if there was anything he could do. The idea of Loki messing with his "baby" was likely eating away at Tony.

"He should have stayed with us, so we could take Loki on as a group." Steve said, moving his mask for it to sit straight. Alexis smiled and helped him with it.

"He's probably angry, that tower is important to him and Loki knew that." Alexis replied.

"We're all angry though, that tower isn't the only important thing Loki shouldn't have messed with." Steve replied, looking down to Alexis seriously. Like all the others, Steve had a personal feud to settle with Loki.

"What of yours did Loki mess with personally? You shouldn't go into battle angry Steve." Alexis said, looking up to the masked man.

"He messed with my best gal." Steve replied honestly with a smile. Alexis laughed and slapped Steve's shoulder. It was still embarassing for Alexis to have a man like Steve want to protect her.

"You don't have to avenge me, I'm still here." Alexis replied before adjusting her gloves.

"I know, but I feel it's my duty to sock him one for you." Steve said with a smile.

"Just don't get yourself killed out there." Alexis said seriously.

"Don't worry, he'll need a lot to take me out." Steve replied, slipping an arm around Alexis' shoulders. The rest of the flight was silent as they both prepared themselves, if Tony couldn't stop the portal being opened; they would all be facing an army of unknown enemies. Alexis did not have superpowers and had seen enough to fear the threat of an alien army. Thor and Loki were powerful afterall, Alexis believed that the Chitauri must be similar in power.

"The portal's been opened. It has a shield of pure energy, it can't be stopped." Natasha called out to them.

"How long until we're there?" Alexis asked as she double checked her weapons.

"Two minutes." Natasha replied as she returned to talk to Tony and get a better understanding of the situation. Alexis looked up to Steve.

"This is it then." She said with a soft smile.

"Stay safe." Steve said seriously before pulling Alexis close for one last kiss before they would be off to fight the war for Earth.

"We're approaching!" Clint called out. Within a few seconds a well aimed blast from Loki's sceptor hit the side of the jet, causing unbalance and a need for an emergency landing. Steve grabbed onto one of the bars above him and held Alexis tight to him as they were knocked back and forth while Clint tried to swerve around the buildings. They were both knocked back at the jet crashed down.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked as he picked himself up and offered a hand.

"Never better." Alexis replied, taking his hand and getting up. The battle had barely begun and they were already taking hits. The group quickly ran out of the jet to assess the situation.

"We have to get back up there!" Steve shouted as they ran towards the tower. A large growl caught their attention. Looking up to the portal, they saw the army arrive, small creatures as well as large flying beasts.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve said over the communication system.

"Seeing, still working on believing. Where's Banner, has he shown up yet?" Tony asked.

"Banner?" Steve questioned.

"Just keep me posted." Tony replied before going to do what he could. Steve looked around, trying to devise a plan. The battle quickly came to them as they fought off the Chitauri soldiers. They regrouped soon after, using a taxi to shield them.

"We've got civilians trapped." Clint said, indicating to the mass destruction.

"Loki. They're fish in a barrel down there." Steve replied, looking to Alexis.

"We can handle ourselves here, you go." She replied.

"You think you can hold them off?" Steve asked.

"Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure." Clint answered, drawing an arrow and beginning his attack. Steve and Alexis exchanged one last glance before he ran off. Natasha and Alexis started shooting.

"This is just like Budapest all over again." Natasha commented as the Chitauri approached.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently." Clint replied as the two shared a moment. Alexis smiled.

"Humans, aliens. Bad guys are all the same." Alexis commented, shooting a few down. Steve returned after instructing the police force as Thor landed down.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked Thor.

"The power source surrounding the cube is impenetrable." Thor answered.

"Thor's right. We gotta deal with these guys." Came Tony's voice over the communicators.

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.

"As a team." Steve replied simply.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor started, looking to Steve.

"Yeah, well get in line." Clint said, sorting through his arrows.

"Save it. Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild." Steve said. Alexis took note of how alert and perceptive Steve became in battle.

"So what's the plan?" She asked, looking to Steve for leadership.

"We've got Stark up top, he's going to need us to..." Steve was cut off by the sounds of an old motorbike. The group looked over to see Bruce riding in, the man had seen better days.

"So, this all seems horrible." Bruce said, looking around.

"I've seen worse." Natasha replied, referring to his outburst.

"Sorry." Bruce said quickly.

"No, we could use a little worse." Natasha said with a smile.

"Stark, we got him." Steve said through the communicator.

"Banner?" Tony asked.

"Just like you said." Steve answered.

"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Tony replied as he flew around the corner of a building, closely followed by one of the larger beasts. Thor growled in anticipation.

"I don't see how that's a party." Natasha thought aloud.

"Obviously you don't party like Tony does." Alexis said, staring up as the large beast approached. Bruce started walking towards the threat.

"Doctor Banner, now might be a really good time for you to get angry." Steve said.

"That's my secret Captain, I'm always angry." Bruce replied before turning back to the beast and growing into the Hulk. With a single punch the beast was stopped but began to flip. Soon it's body would crush them all.

"Hold on." Tony said as he shot a small missile into the beast's weak spot. A second passed and it blew to pieces. Steve used his shield to protect himself, Alexis and Natasha. With the Avengers finally together as a team, it was time to end this war.

**Author's note: Saying this again for people who don't read my other current story (Astrid and the Avengers) after my current stories are finished, I will be taking a break from writing Avengers fics. Purely because it is all I've written and I don't want to overdo it and lose interest. So my next story will be a Harry Potter fic. It will likely be Snape x OC. I wanted the opinions of my readers, well from those who would likely read the Snape fic. My OC will be mid twenties but will either enter the HP world as a DADA teacher or an undercover studet (who is in Hogwarts to guard/tutor Harry Potter) as a student, she will be lonely and seek out adult company who know her true identity (Snape of course) I just wanted to know which readers liked better. A teacher or a student. Anyway, hoped you liked reading, please review.**


	12. Chapter 12

The Avengers stood together in a group, looking out at the chaos and destruction currently taking over. Alexis stood beside Steve, thinking just for a moment that at the start of all this; she wanted nothing to do with Steve and now she wanted to support him in everyway.

"Call it Captain." Tony said, showing much more respect for Steve.

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal; our priority is containment. Barton; I want you on that building, call out patterns and strays. Stark; you've got the perimeter, anything gets more than three blocks out; you turn it back or you turn it to ash." Steve started, displaying leadership skills.

"Give me a lift?" Clint said, turning to Tony.

"Right, better clench up, Legolas." Tony said, his witty tone hidden beneath his mask. Tony grabbed hold of Clint before taking off into the sky. Steve waited a second before returning to the plan of attack.

"Thor, you've got to try to bottleneck that portal. Slow them down, you've got the lightning; light the bastards up." Steve said as Thor began to swing his hammer before taking off. Steve looked to Natasha and Alexis. "Us three, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk." Steve turned to the green giant. Hulk let out a growl to show he was listening. "Smash." The Hulk smiled before jumping up and starting his assault on the Chitauri. Alexis walked up to Steve with a smile and whispered into his ear.

"If we weren't in the middle of a war; I'd have you right here and now." She smirked at the look of shock on Steve's face before returning to her current duties and going to kill the nearest alien enemy. After such a display, Alexis could not resist the urge to stroke Steve's ego. The trio fought through Chitauri after Chitauri, taking out the current group of them in the area. Natasha and Alexis worked together well, they had teamed up on missions before and had developed an effective style.

"Twenty three." Alexis called over her hit count to Natasha with a smile.

"Twenty five, keep up won't you?" Natasha replied teasingly as she took out another Chitauri. The two women were not super powered like the others and were starting to wear down. Steve jumped down to join them after his own battling, Natasha instinctively aimed the Chitauri weapon she was holding at Steve until she realised it was him. Natasha relaxed slightly, her exhaustion was showing. Her head bled from one attack, Alexis beared her own wounds.

"Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't find a way to close that portal." Natasha said as she caught her breath, leaning against a car.

"None of our weapons can even touch it." Steve replied, looking up at the large opening in the sky.

"Well maybe it's not about guns." Natasha replied.

"If you wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride." Steve said, looking around for anything they could use. Alexis looked over Natasha's face and smiled.

"She's got a ride." She said, pointing to the Chitauri flying above.

"Could use a boost though." Natasha said, moving back to get a running start.

"Are you sure about this?" Steve asked, looking over to Natasha.

"Yeah, it's gonna be fun." Natasha replied, she had handled worse. Natasha ran and jumped as Steve pushed her up into the air with his shield. The remaining two watched as Natasha gracefully span up and grabbed hold of one of the flyers passing.

"She used to study ballet." Alexis said, seeing the look of amazement on Steve's face.

"You girls have moxie." Steve said with a smile.

"These days, you'd say we've got balls." Alexis said, having a laugh before the wall of a building blew up. More Chitauri came roaming out.

"You'll have to explain that later." Steve said before running towards the newest threat. Alexis sighed, forcing away fatigue and followed after him. It wasn't long before the small group was taken out, Alexis looked over to see Steve on the ground with a blade to his throat as a Chitauri towered above him. She quickly ran over and leapt into the air, landing onto the Chitauri and driving one of her well loved daggers into it's throat.

"Thanks." Steve said as he picked himself up. Alexis smiled over.

"What are girlfriends for?" She replied, wiping off her blade.

"Leave that crap until later please. We've got a bank on 42nd past Madison, they've cornered a lot of civilians in there." Clint said over the communicator.

"We're on it." Steve answered, running off with Alexis to face the challenge.

"You go in through the window, I'll take the back." Alexis said as they arrived at the bank. Steve lept up onto a car and dived through a window that had been broken in. The sound of an explosive stood out straight away. Steve kept low and kicked a desk into the nearby Chitauri, one approached behind and grabbed him.

"Everyone, clear out!" He shouted as he struggled against the Chitauri. Alexis broke down the doors and took out the two Chitauri by it, giving the civilians an exit. The last remaining Chitauri picked up the explosive and threw it at Steve. Alexis looked up in time to see Steve jump up into a ball behind his shield just as the explosive hit and blasted him and the Chitauri. Alexis ran outside with the civilians, police and firemen stood by to direct the civilians to safety. Alexis sighed with relief as she saw Steve slide down from crush car roof, he looked worn down but ok. Rushing over to him, Alexis was greeted with a brief but warm embrace.

"Are they all ok?" Steve asked, showing more concern for the civilian's well being over his own.

"All fine, though I'd imagine they'll be telling people about this day for the rest of their lives." Alexis answered, brushing the dust off Steve's shoulders affectionately. Thor landed down beside the two and the fighting started back up. It was all becoming too much. Time passed slowly as they continued to fight. Steve turned in time to see a Chitauri aim it's gun at Alexis as she was distracted with another fight. Steve ran quickly and blocked the beam with his shield, leaving him open to another Chitauri's gun. Alexis watched helplessly as Steve fell to the ground in pain. Thor's anger peaked at the attack on his friend and made short work of the last Chitauri near them. Alexis ran and kneeled down infront of Steve.

"I'm ok." He panted, giving Thor a grateful bow of his head as Thor offered a hand up.

"Are you ready for another bout?" Thor asked seriously, looking down to see Steve holding his stomach.

"What, you gettin' sleepy?" Steve replied, panting a little.

"I can close the portal, anybody copy?" Came the voice of Natasha over the communicator.

"Do it!" Steve said quickly.

"No, wait." Tony's voice joined the conversation.

"Stark, these things are still comin'!" Steve replied.

"I've got a nuke coming and it's going to blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it." Tony said, they all knew what he had planned.

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip." Steve said seriously.

"Save the rest for the turn J'." Tony said to Jarvis, effectively letting everyone know he knew what he was doing. Steve looked over to Alexis and silently held eye contact with her for a moment, saying more than words ever could. Alexis took Steve's hand and looked up to the sky. The only thing they could do was wait and see if Tony's plan would work.

**Author's note: I kind of hate this chapter. I'm terrible at writing battle scenes, because it's very fast past and mostly action. I think it would be a bit boring to read "And then he did this, and then he did that" so I skipped over most of the actual fighting. And I tried to be as accurate with the dialog as possible while adding Alexis into it. Anyway, please review. I don't think this story has been getting many reviews lately and it's a little disheartening, though I will continue to write anyway.**


	13. Chapter 13

The Avengers watched as Tony flew up into the portal with the missile. With a heavy heart Steve gave the order.

"Close it." Two little words were enough to cut each member of the Avengers, Tony had acted in a way that was completely unexpected. With the order out, Natasha used Loki's sceptor to pass through the energy shield protecting the Tesseract and hit the kill switch. The portal began to close in the sky. Alexis gave Steve's hand a gentle squeeze.

"He was a good man." She whispered, feeling Steve wrap his strong and protective arm around her to provide comfort. The moment was short lived as a tiny red and yellow spot began falling. They all knew he had done it, Tony had once again done the impossible.

"Son of a gun." Steve said with a smile. There was something wrong of course, while Tony had made it back through the portal; he was still falling.

"He's not slowing down!" Thor said, knowing what needed to be done. He began to swing his hammer, preparing to fly. Thor's actions were interrupted as the Hulk jumped up and caught Tony in one arm and fell to the ground with the man of iron. The trio quickly ran over to the Hulk and Tony. Hulk stood over them all, watching as Thor ripped the mask from Tony's suit. Steve checked Tony over, not seeing any signs of life. A moment passed as they all wondered if this was the end for Tony. Hulk would not accept that outcome and let out a wild roar, waking Tony with a shock.

"Ah!" Tony shouted as he looked around, causing Hulk to let out another roar.

"What the hell. What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me." Tony said in a panic as he looked to Steve and Thor.

"We won." Steve said as the calm after battle swept over him. Alexis kneeled down next to Tony.

"Alright. Hey, good job guys! Oh Alexis, I feel faint still. Do you know mouth to mouth?" Tony said, showing he was back to his usual self.

"That won't be happening." Steve said with a smile as he wrapped an arm around Alexis.

"Oh, you two? Well good for you Capsicle. You guys ever try schwarma? There's a schwarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it." Tony said quickly, being alive was more than enough reason for him to be happy.

"We're not finished yet." Thor said, reminding them all of the obvious threat they still needed to handle.

"And then schwarma after?" Tony added in. The group assembled together along the way to the now half destroyed Stark Tower. They stood together as a team as Loki tried to pull himself up from the floor. The look was all to clear on Loki's face as he dragged himself up the stairs to see the group infront of him. Clint aimed his bow at the god of mischief, making it very clear that Loki was done.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." Loki said, a smart mouth even at the bitter end.

True to Tony's word, the Avengers found his schwarma joint two blocks away. It was damaged but the owners were more than happy to cook up a meal for their heroes. The group sat around a large table, Alexis leaned against Steve as they ate together.

"So what now?" Bruce asked what they were all thinking, they were also able to find him some clothing. Alexis wondered if a size changing suit would be a task on Tony's list of things to do in the future.

"I shall be returning to Asgard with Loki and the Tesseract." Thor announced, his destination was the easiest one. Loki looked over from the small table they had set him down at. While they did not want him joining their conversation, they could also not let him out of sight.

"I need to plan a bigger, better tower. Next time it won't get damaged." Tony announced excitedly.

"Next time?" Bruce asked.

"There's always a next time. We never know what will come in the future. You're welcome to join me. I bet Pepper would love having someone else with us for me to bother." Tony said, looking to Bruce seriously. It took a moment before Bruce nodded his head.

"It might be nice to be around people who know me, at least for a while." Bruce admitted, he had spent a long time alone in India. Steve shifted in his seat as he realised he he had no where to go and no plans. Before this all happened he had no plans, back in his day his great plan was to join the army. While Steve was highly skilled and perceptive in battle; once it was all over he had no clue as to what he was doing. Was he doomed to be the soldier no longer needed by the world?

"We'll be returning to work of course, but maybe a holiday first. Budapest?" Natasha asked, looking to Clint. He smiled from behind his food. Steve saw the pattern: Thor was to take Loki, Tony and Bruce had each other, Natasha and Clint had each other. Steve was filled with more unease, what had Alexis planned to do? He looked over to her as casually as he could. Alexis looked calm and interested in the other's plans. She had obviously made up her mind about what she wanted to do. Steve looked down to see their legs touching, would this be his last day like this with her? How could this situation seem far more life threatening than the war they just faced?

"Budapest." Clint agreed as the couple shared some sort of private joke. That left Steve and Alexis. Steve felt confused; was it too soon to assume he could follow her, wherever she was going? His thoughts were becoming overwhelming.

"Captain? Where are you going?" Tony said, making Steve realise he had waited too long to answer.

"Um... I..." Steve muttered, feeling very lost. He started out with no one and then found a family in a very unlikely group. They were all going their own ways and he could feel that lonliness creeping back onto him.

"Home, of course." Alexis said, taking Steve's hand. She knew Steve had no where to go, she wasn't about to let him return to the base they had kept him in. Steve looked over to her with surprise but was without a doubt happy and relieved to hear that.

"Home."

**Author's note: The story is almost over readers. I will have a chapter or two more, I want to explore Steve adjusting to normal life in the modern world. Any ideas for some funny moments? Steve trying to work any kitchen gadget could end in disaster. Tell me what you think in the review.**


	14. Chapter 14

"Text me, ok?" Natasha said as she walked along with Alexis.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you updated. Let me know when you arrive at your final destination." Alexis replied, the war was over and the two agents could act like regular women for a short period of time. This time was always complex for people like Alexis and Natasha, part of them wanted the 'normal' life but if left too long; they became stir crazy. Alexis felt this quiet period wouldn't become boring this time as she had something new to keep her occupied: a relationship with the great Captain America.

"I'll make sure to send a photo when Clint gets himself sunburnt." Natasha said with a laugh, the running joke being that Clint couldn't take a vacation without getting burnt. Alexis smiled and took her spot beside Steve as the others gathered round to see Thor leave Earth with Loki.

"It's really over." Steve said, for lack of anything better to say. He was nervous for his new life with Alexis. He wondered if she would grow sick of him in time. Steve had no idea what he was doing in the world and would likely need a lot of help, would Alexis really want to be with a man who needed constant aid? He did not want to be a burden to her.

"For now. The world is always in danger. After we take a little break, we'll be called back in for duty." Alexis said, having gone through the calm between threats plenty of times before.

"I don't think any task will be the same as this one though." Steve replied, watching as Banner set the Tesseract in place.

"And why is that?" Alexis asked, keeping her eyes on the two Asgardian brothers. They were preparing to leave and she did not want to miss a thing.

"A man can only meet a gal like you once." Steve said quietly, Alexis almost missed it as the Tesseract was activated at the Asgardians flew off into the makeshift portal. A gush of strong wind rippled over them and then nothing. It was as if the men had never been there. Alexis looked over to Steve and smiled.

"Well, thank god you met me while you're still at the ripe young age of 90." Alexis said with a smirk, causing Steve to laugh.

"Well, if you only count the years I was awake then I'm still in my early 20s." Steve said, feeling somewhat self conscious about his age. Alexis took his arm gently and followed the group as they began walking to their various forms of transportation.

"I already did the math, if we want to work it out that way then I'm two years older than you. I guess that makes you my toyboy." Alexis said, not minding what age he is. She knew that while they joked about it, the subject must be very strange for Steve to deal with.

"Stop flirting already, you guys can do that in private." Tony called out with a grin, honestly happy for the couple. It was his opinion as well as a few others that Steve would have trouble meeting a girl and so it was lucky that he happened to be introduced to the right girl at the very beginning.

"Don't worry, we will." Alexis replied with as much cheek.

"Don't forget my offer either, you two have to come visit and keep in touch. I'll have Pepper call you and organise double dates or something ridiculous like that." Tony said as he walked over to his very stylish sports car.

"It might be nice to go on a double date where I've actually got a date interested in me." Steve said honestly, giving Alexis a look that said he would explain later. The two would have plenty of time to talk about everything they had been through.

"I'll keep you to that, buddy!" Tony called out, giving a wave before he and Bruce drove off. Natasha and Clint walked over to their more conserative work supplied car. Natasha looked over as she opened the door.

"Get that boy whipped into shape before we come back. I don't ever want to hear him ask how to use a cell phone again." Natasha said a polite smile before she too got into the car. Steve and Alexis made their way over to his new bike, a generous gift from SHIELD for his services.

"You know, if you're going to ride this often we have to get you out of your pants and wearing jeans or something. You'll get bullied by the other bikies for wearing khakis." Alexis teased as she got on behind Steve and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"What was that? I stopped listening after you said get me out of my pants." Steve replied with cheek, he had was slowly growing comfortable with Alexis' style of humor.

"I'll explain the rest later once you've cleared your head. For now, let's ride." Alexis said with a smile. It wasn't long before the two were enjoying the breeze as they made their way to the small town outside New York that Alexis currently called home. As she travelled a lot for work, Alexis enjoyed being able to come home to a quiet, peaceful environment. The town itself was small but not far from the bigger towns and outer suburbs of the city and so it was ideal.

Steve pulled into the large yard and looked over the one story home. The grey blue building fit in with the other houses in the street and looked perfect for a small family. Steve had been expecting something different.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but this house doesn't seem a thing like you." Steve said as he got off the bike. Alexis smiled and fished out her keys from the shoulder bag she had on.

"That's why I like it. I've got an appartment in the city for when I work but I really do love this house. It's the best place to come back to after a long mission." Alexis said and looked over the house warmly. Steve smiled and wondered if the part of Alexis that loved the conventional family home over what was likely a stylish city apartment was also the part of her that attracted her to Steve. Alexis took Steve's hand gently and lead him up to few steps and unlocked the door.

"Welcome home."


	15. Chapter 15

This was the final straw. If the phone would not respond to Steve; he was seriously considering how it would respond to spending five minutes in the microwave or blender. Once more he clicked the tiny envelope icon and once again, the phone did nothing.

"This one is broken Alexis!" Steve shouted before hearing the soft footsteps of Alexis making her way down the stairs.

"It's not broken, it's brand new." She answered as she leaned over Steve's shoulder to examine his movements.

"This is stupid anyway, why can't I just use the old phone? At least it had buttons. I like buttons." Steve snapped. Steve could adjust to new foods, new entertainment and even a lot of today's social structure but learning about technology was frustrating.

"Because sweetie, the old phone is outdated and probably won't be of any use soon. You need to learn how to use a smartphone, at least enough to be able to call people when you need them. Show me what you're doing." Alexis soothed and strategically kissed Steve's neck. In the week they had been living together, Alexis had discovered a few of Steve's weaknesses; his neck was one of them.

While the couple had gotten used to being closer, they were still taking things slow. Alexis did not want to expose Steve to the world at a rushed speed, he already had 70 years to catch up on; he didn't need any pressures of a modern day relationship weighing him down. Until Steve was caught up, Alexis was doing what she could to teach him the basics. Inside the home: Steve needed to know how to prepare food, he needed to know how to use a phone, he needed to know how to work a TV remote and he needed to learn how to use a computer enough to email and work a search engine. Luckily for Alexis, Steve was smart. He could pick things up pretty easily when shown what to do, the hardest things to teach were the things that got introduced to the world slowly; cell phones and computers. They had become needlessly complicated over the years and unless brought up on them; they were difficult things to understand.

"See, you're tapping it too hard. You need to be gentle and careful. Touch the icon as if you were touching me." Alexis explained with a smile and watched as Steve tried again while sporting pink cheeks. To his surprise, the message option opened.

"It worked!" He beamed up to her.

"You'd give Tony Stark a run for his money." Alexis teased and fished a small stylus pen out of her pocket for Steve to use until he was more comfortable with the phone.

"I can't tell him what I know yet, he'll make another ice man joke." Steve said as he practised typing up a message, the stylus proving to be more useful than his finger. Alexis ruffled Steve's hair gently and smiled.

"You'll get there eventually. I'm sure he'll be as supportive as he can manage while making a snarky comment. Speaking of which, we should be going soon. Pepper's pretty excited about our double date, wouldn't want to be late for it. I've picked out a nice shirt for you to wear." Alexis said as she returned upstairs to finish doing her hair. She had no idea where Tony would be taking them to eat but she assumed it would be flashy and over the top and so she finished her hair and make up before slipping into a modest blue dress.

"Need my help?" Steve said as he walked up behind her and carefully helped with the zip at the back of her dress, while Alexis was capable of doing it herself, Steve felt great pride in helping with the small things that only a boyfriend would be privileged to. Alexis smiled back to him.

"Thanks Captain, you really do know how to save a damsel in distress." Alexis said playfully and pulled him down for a thank you kiss. Steve pulled his shirt off to change while Alexis admired the view, she never liked being shallow but she had to admit; Steve was perfect trophy husband material.

"Anytime ma'm. And you look beautiful by the way." Steve replied with a wink as he buttoned his shirt.

"Remind me to take you to the beach before we return to work..." Alexis said as she admired Steve's chest before the final button was done up. Steve smiled, loving the look on Alexis' face whenever he was shirtless around her.

"Sounds like fun. Plan on going to our date barefoot?" Steve asked as he noticed Alexis naked feet.

"I can't drive in heels." Alexis answered as she pointed to the shoes laid out on their bed. Steve laughed as he knew it was his job to carry said shoes while Alexis was to drive.

An hour saw the couple driving into the outskirts of New York and into the large driveway of Tony's latest mansion. Steve jumped out of the car once Alexis pulled up and moved around to the driver's side door. He carefully sat the shoes down for Alexis to step into as to not dirty her feet on the driveway.

"You really do know how to spoil a girl." Alexis said as she took Steve's arm and walked into the mansion.

"Get used to it, I know how much you put up with to help me and be with me. If the small things I do make you happy then I'm going to keep on doing them." Steve replied, making Alexis smile. She had never really been with a man who went so far out of his way to do the 'small things', which of course were usually the most important things. Tony threw the door open with a smile.

"Hey, about time you two agreed to a date. Captain, looking good. Alexis, looking like that dress would be fun to take off." Tony greeted them in a typical manner as he lead them both inside. Alexis smiled but took note of Tony's casual jeans and tshirt. Pepper stood in shorts and a tshirt as well, making Alexis wonder where they would be going.

"Alexis, so good to finally meet you in person." Pepper said with a smile and gave Alexis a friendly hug.

"I know, but it feels like I already know you so well." Alexis replied cheerfully, causing both boys to look surprised.

"As far as I know, you two haven't met at all..." Tony said, confused.

"You two Skype each other right? Did I use that term correctly?" Steve said as he shook Pepper's hand.

"That's right. It's an honor to meet you Captain." Pepper answered.

"How did I not know this?" Tony asked, looking to Pepper for answers.

"You never want to hear about who I'm talking to because you assume it's always business related." Pepper said with a playful smile aimed at Tony.

"Ah of course. Well business calls are boring. Now, anyone for pizza?" Tony asked, looking around to the small group.

"Pizza? You said we were going to the finest place you knew." Alexis said angrily, having spent far too long worrying over an outfit and make up.

"And I meant, we're already at the finest place I know. Look around!" Tony replied, extending both arms as if to say the couple would never visit a nicer place.

"Tony." Pepper said in a warning tone before leading the couple to the living room.

"Pizza and scary movies, what could be better?" Tony said with a smile as he got Steve a beer. In truth, the night had gone very well and a relaxing time at home was much nicer than expected. Alexis had even discovered something fascinating about Tony; he kept his mouth shut when zombie horror movies were on.

"You know, I think Stark got really lucky with Pepper. He found someone who can counter his personality." Steve commented as the couple lay in bed that night. Alexis had found her comfortable spot on Steve's chest and he had held her in place. It was one of the most amazing feelings to Steve; simply holding the one you love. He even noticed how Alexis' head was positioned directly above his heart.

"Yeah, I think I got lucky in that area too..." Alexis replied quietly, she was starting to fall asleep.

"No, I was the lucky one." Steve said with a smile.

"Nope. You're an incredible man, Captain America. Brave, kind, smart and disgustingly good looking. You've probably got women and men lining up to be with you. I'm the stubborn, smart mouthed one who drives away men. So I got lucky in meeting you." Alexis argued as she forced herself to stay awake. She felt the rumble in Steve's chest as he let out a laugh.

"You're a strong willed, independent woman. You don't drive men away, average men just don't deserve you. And I don't care who's lining up to be with me, you're the only one I want." Steve said firmly as he looked down into the soft gaze of Alexis. Normally she would argue further but in her dozy state there was only one thing she could think of.

"I love you Steve." She whispered, Steve felt himself well up with joy.

"I love you too Alexis." Steve replied, the silence of the night only making their words sound more alive.

The end.

**Author's note: Thank you everyone for the support you have given through this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it. I have recently started a Sherlock story so if anyone is a fan, please check it out. There will also be a Harry Potter story soon. Until next time!**


End file.
